MG Rover was the final name by which the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC) became known. BLMC had been formed in 1968 upon a government initiative to strengthen the UK's automotive industry so that it could compete effectively with the American and other European multinationals in...

The policy framework to encourage the manufacture and adoption of low carbon vehicles presents new opportunities for traditional automotive manufacturing regions. This article examines such opportunities in the West Midlands region of the UK, where the automotive ‘cluster’ remains...

This paper discusses the reasons why the German luxury car maker BMW purchased the ailing British volume car producer Rover/Land Rover and why it disposed of both after only six years. This merger went against the trend in the industry as normally it was volume producers that acquired luxury...

This paper investigates the changes taking places in the automotive industry in the English West Midlands. For over a century this region has been the heartland of car production in the UK, but over recent decades the volume side of the trade has been in serious decline, leading to increasing...

This paper investigates the changes taking places in the automotive industry in the English West Midlands. For over a century this region has been the heartland of car production in the UK, but over recent decades the volume side of the trade has been in serious decline, leading to increasing...

B<sc>ailey</sc> D. and B<sc>erkeley</sc> N. Regional responses to recession: the role of the West Midlands Regional Taskforce, <italic>Regional Studies</italic>. Regional taskforces were set up across the English regions in late 2008 in response to the most severe recession since the Second World War. This paper examines the role...

There has been a ‘triple whammy’ for neighbourhood regeneration in England in 2010. Key agencies and infrastructure have been abolished or cut back since the election of a new government; the previous administration’s area-based initiatives are ending; and property-led...

Cluster policy in the UK, pursued by the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), has readily adopted a simplistic definition based upon industrial sectors and location quotients. Evidence drawn from a study of the operating behaviour of SMEs belonging to two traditional manufacturing industries...

This article analyses and critiques attempts by UK policymakers, driven by environmental and economic concerns, to promote the low carbon vehicle sector. In particular the efforts of government departments such as Business, Innovation and Skills; Transport; Energy and Climate Change; and the...